Directed by: Piotr Adamski
Starring: Magdalena Koleśnik, Andrzej Seweryn, Piotr Trojan
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
The task of bringing a successful novel on the big screen can be a gilded cage for any venturesome director willing to have a say in filmmaking. After directing Eastern (2019), a daring low-key cinematic battle royale, Piotr Adamski found himself with the chance of adapting the domestic chart-topping saga of Hidden Network, or part of it, for the cinema.
Written by former CD Projekt videogame screenwriter Jakub Szamałek, Adamski’s film revolves around the first book in Szamałek’s trilogy which is focused on the character of Julita (Magdalena Koleśnik), a reporter who strives to find her own place in Warsaw by herself without having to use her father’s connections.
During an investigation for the mysterious death of a local television celebrity, Julita ends up entangled in the internet shadow world. The journalist becomes herself the victim of something far bigger and darker she had initially assumed. Julita is all but a character of high integrity. Szamałek’s story is indeed full of cutting remarks about tabloid journalism for its intrusiveness and lack of ethics.
Eventually, Koleśnik’s tremendous performance, following her breakout role in Sweat (2020), adds zest to Adamski’s Polish take on Nordic noir film and thus preventing it from sinking into oblivion. The open ending that suggests that there is a clear possibility for sequel. Hidden Network benefited from a limited theatrical release in UK’s multiplexes.
Film Reviewed by Giuseppe Sedia
Published by Kino Mania on October 2, 2023